Cercani
Cercani (also designated as KIP 1357) is a K-Class main sequence star added in by the Other_Worlds Star Pack. It host three terrestrial planets, one gas giant, seven moons, and a binary dwarf planet system. In-Game Description "One day after its discovery, the discoverer claimed to be the closest star to ours, and this kept for years until a scientific debunked it. Moving on, Cercani is a K-type star with five known exoplanets, some similar and others not so many. Is the first wanted star to be explored by the Kerbalkind, but not being the closest star could not make it the target for interstellar travels in the near future." ''-Kerbal Astronomical Union'' Stellar Attributes Cercani is a rather small star, just half the radius of the stock KSP Sun. However, Cercani's gravity is nearly 90% that of Kerbin's, over half the GeeASL for Kerbol. This may suggest that Cercani is a rather dense star, possibly caused by constrained magnetic fields. Since the star is categorized as an orange dwarf, it is very plausible that its magnetic fields are rather tight. With smaller stars, especially red dwarfs, the magnetic fields are wound up tight and cause huge flares. However, large orange dwarfs, with a spectral type of KV4 to KV0, don't usually have this attribute. So Cercani must be a small K-Type star, especially since the stock Sun may be one too. Kerbol's spectral type could be around KV0, while Cercani would be at the other end of the spectrum. The density of this star may also point towards its metalicity. A star with lower amounts of metals, like older stars, have slightly lower densities. Stars with a higher quantity of metallic elements, like G-Type stars, can be slightly more dense. Cercani is half the size of Kerbol, yet it has 3 rocky planets and 2 icy dwarf planets that form a binary system. In comparison, Kerbol has 4 rocky planets and 2 terrestrial dwarf planets. In order for a small orange dwarf to have nearly as many rocky planets/dwarf planets as a larger star, it must have a rather high metalicity. Origin Despite Cercani orbiting Kerbol, in reality it wouldn't have formed there. Both stars probably formed in the same nebula, but in different regions. To explain Cercani's high metalicity, the star's origin must be known. Most of the time, star formation beings when a supernova shock wave smashes into a nearby molecular cloud. If the star that became a supernova was a white dwarf or a smaller supergiant, less rare metallic elements would be produced. But a large sugergiant, or even a hypergiant, were to explode, it would create huge quantities of metals. If Cercani formed close to where the supernova began, then it could've gotten enough metals to aquire its unusually high density and metallicity. That could have also helped it get enough material to make such large and metal-rich planets. Planetary System Cercani has five planets in total, including its binary dwarf planet system. Each of them are different and have developed greatly based on their distance from the host star. * '''Troni: '''A hot planet similar to Moho, except that it has an icy side from being tidally locked to Cercani. * '''Vassa: '''An oceanic planet, also tidally locked. One side is a huge ocean, while the other is pure ice. ** '''C2-1: '''Vassa's one and only moon. It has a gray-blue hue to it, possibly suggesting it has a similar composition to Vassa. * '''Pequar: '''A cold, desert-like "Super Kerbin" with glorious rings and a dynamic terrain. It also bears a huge impact basin. ** '''Disole: '''Pequar's largest moon that is less than 100 km in radius. It also shows signs of a Kerbin-like past that was destroyed by a mysterious cataclysmic event. ** '''C3-1: '''A yellow, captured asteroid around Pequar. * '''Nienna: '''A purple ice giant orbiting Cercani. It has a thin ring system and 3 different and dynamic moons. ** '''Crons: '''The largest moon of Nienna. Crons has a huge canyon/crack around its equator filled with ices colored by solar radiation. ** '''Kevari: '''A Mun-sized moon tortured by Nienna's tidal forces. Volcanoes driven by gravity have recolored the surface of Kevari, making it look like an artist's pallet. ** '''Niko: '''Nienna's smallest moon. Niko appears dark in color with huge impact basins, but it also has crystals all over its surface. * '''Prima-Secunda: '''A pair of binary dwarf planets at the edge of the Cercani system. Prima is the largest and rather plain in color. Secunda, the least massive of the two, is cracked and shows signs of a subsurface ocean. Trivia * If Cercani does have cramped-up magnetic fields, it could be based off of red dwarfs that flare violently, like UV Ceti. Otherwise, it has no real analogue. * Cercani is one of two star packs for Kopernicus implemented in Sigma88's "Galactic Neighborhood" mod. Category:Celestials Category:Stars